Watch this blog site for current release film reviews. We will also feature reviews of films, whether classic blockbusters, box office bombs or the relatively unseen. Our genre will include science-fiction, animation, action teen movies, comedy, drama and other categories.

Review
Not dull-witted but immediately a simplistic, yet satisfying classic aimed for children with a sweet-tooth. That's how WILLY WONKA & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY is renowned as the last great flavour to the family musicals. I grew up with the 71 version where I came to watch it exclusively on DVD screening. At 10 years of age, it left me puzzled to watch what happens to those four nasty kids who disobeyed the rules. I won't tell you as I don't want to give a spoiler alert. This is what Tim Burton needs to think that the original is single-handedly superior to his demeaning remake, but comparing it with better visual candy isn't going to overpower the original 71 hit. WILLY WONKA is not only proud and sweeter for its highlighted songs. It's known for its good human-hearted nature and well-written story. I think it places Charlie in the spotlight as the lead hero rather than the title character played by Gene Wilder.

The famous actor Wilder fills in the attire, performing as his interpretation of Wonka and doing just about right with nice blend of manic and control. I don't care what some people think of the character as a grim psychopath, he is meant to be eccentric or be portrayed in a sarcastic tone. It's a pity none of the child actors got into film careers after WONKA, the actor who played Charlie moved on to be a vet. Other children transferred from cinema to some TV programs while trying to avoid of being typecast. For those who didn't know of the Brit sitcom THE GOODIES that exists. One of the actors Tim Brooke Taylor featured himself in a minor cameo role in WILLY WONKA.

What a lucky date that I picked the right film adaptation of WILLY WONKA at this time. Though it could have been titled accurately as CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY when in its pre-production, it was originally that name. Don't worry if any of you have seen the Burton version first, although it maybe an average movie. The 1971 classic is of a particular undeniable value to be seen as a sweet sensation with the pure imagination.

It's been five years since Hiccup and Toothless successfully united dragons and vikings on the island of Berk. While Astrid,

Snotlout and the rest of the gang are challenging each other to dragon races (the island's new favourite contact sport), the now

inseparable pair journey through the skies, charting unmapped territories and exploring new worlds. When one of their adventures leads to the discovery of a secret ice cave that is home to hundreds of new wild dragons and the mysterious Dragon Rider, the two friends find themselves

at the center of a battle to protect the peace. Now, Hiccup and Toothless mustunite to stand up for what they believe while recognising that only together do they have the power to change the future of both men and dragons.

Some animated sequels have managed to ruin the flair of the original, so I was never hopeful for HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 (HTTYD2) and hoping it would not fall into the category of cash-in sequels. During its post release, I was surprised it received unanimous praise but in saying this I still didn't think it would match the magic of the first. The original movie (click here) was a modern aged classic and it could never be surpassed by the second. I'd be so proud if DreamWorks would re-release the film again in 3D. HTTYD2 is a worthwhile sequel which allures everyone for seeing its more technically-crafted animation and the more flight-daring action to impress viewers.

Because of its maturity and darker tone, it feels a little more forced than the first one, but it does have a series of moments to build up the comedy and drama. Fantasy buffs will clearly recognise Cate Blanchett from LORD OF THE RINGS and Kit Harington from GAME OF THRONES for being here as voicing two of the newly-written main and supporting characters.

The story wasn't as fun and engaging as the original classic. It expanded differently from its predecessor and I would say it has remained faithful to its fanbase. It's a rather admirable sequel of which I would say that I am overwhelmed of its outstanding quality.

Chilling but certainly a thrill-packed adventure feature not seen before I did not see it until many years after its release. It was in a few DVD stores, then I borrowed it off from my uncle's movie collection with UNDER SIEGE 2 to not bore myself. The cold is charged up in VERTICAL LIMIT of its tension, it's an exciting movie that gives a feeling of winter, survival and tension. Although it is in fact action with a mix of drama to frame the movie of its plot. The film is shot in some of the scenes in New Zealand. There is a familiar movie trivia, the director was born into that country and he alone had his birthplace as one of the picture's main locations. To the actors I commend the most, Chris O'Donnell was nicely cast as the main lead. I'm surprised he didn't make his role a fiasco like playing in the two Schumacher Batman films. Bill Paxton performed a far more interesting role than his co-stars.

My overall feedback for this movie is positive. Nothing can slow the picture of its massive peak of impact, to say it was overly intense. My recommendation is for you to watch VERTICAL LIMIT on the TV screen, if have not seen already.

Years after successfully managing my early reviews of Transformers (or making its alterations in now recent years) including the three live-action blockbusters. First, there was the 1986 animated movie (click here), then came 2007's TRANSFORMERS (click here) where I once gave it a star-rating of 5 out of 5. Again, I reviewed its average but mildly fun sequel of REVENGE OF THE FALLEN (click here) and it's improved third instalment DARK OF THE MOON (DOTM) (click here). I thought of it once as the series grand finale, I must admit, the director Michael Bay has a hard time of keeping up with the series issues as he was deeply focused on the movies' impact. He has TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION re-modified in a whole new impression for the newly-matured fans. No longer it will be requiring the old human characters from the first three, replacing them with the new ones better with subtlety and appeal. The younger fans of hipsters can only recognise the new transformers from the vintage cartoon of G1 includes such fan-favourites like the Dinobots.

Amidst the brand new characters and dark tone helped the movie in gearing to a new generation of hipsters. What I like about the movie is Mark Wahlberg whom is a good actor that performed the part very well. Call me crazy, but I have no idea he was playing the main human in a Transformers film. Having seen a few movies featuring the known actor, he proves more that he could do in a heroic, interesting type than Shia LaBeouf in a yearly ritual. If Shia could have just gotten a cameo appearance. Other actors Stanley Tucci and John Goodman (in robot form) also even displayed this co-excessive natural talent in the supporting character leads.

This is the beginning of a new trilogy with brand new characters and such, the new movie AGE OF EXTINCTION is dazzling whatsoever in accustoming the action and visual spectacles. More maturity and edgier than DOTM, the winds are keeping the change of the movie that kept the die-hard fans in power of anticipation.

Thursday, 10 July 2014

Just finished with looking at part 1 of my hand-picked dastardly movie villains, haven't you! The list goes on with another one of my favourite menacing foes I've selected, you have to recognise them with your hate. It's evidently down to two more parts before the final top 3 of these despised evil characters. Oh, and don't mind about the error about 'Ernest Goes To Camp', I was trying to have it fixed when I accidentally set it to automatic not staying to its original date.

If you haven't looked on the first part of my top evildoers or either missed it, please (click here) for your viewing.

#11.Syndrome(The Incredibles)There you have it, Syndrome

may have not been the strongest or yet have any superpowers to make him a super-villain. He was once a crazed-fanboy to the world's greatest hero Mr. Incredible and desperately wants to be his sidekick. Sadly, his idol tells him that he only works alone, thus feeling rejected to lead him against the supers. A genius for techno-wizardry and easy for Syndrome to make his robotic creations to lure the former supers into their deaths as he himself is to become one. To me, he is the only villain from a Pixar flick I most sincerely enjoyed and none of these villains are compared to Syndrome.

#10. Hans Gruber (Die Hard)

In real life, criminal
masterminds are quite
dangerous compared to

terrorists and so you not want

to list all the past and recent
ones in history just so you
won't have yourself killed, if

you’re a hostage or a surprise

witness. Hans Gruber is the first one to be fully fictional and he does all the bad threats in the first 'Die Hard'film. The variable acts he does are

extremely worthy of his

character, this includes one where he attempts to eradicate and murder the people that he held them in hostage. I now consider Hans to be the film's only character I favoured and it gives Alan Rickman to be in such a big break for he would soon portray in these villainous types.

#9. Lord Voldermort (Harry Potter)Okay, we now explored many

more of my favourite arch-foes. What about a dark wizard, our only known example of these evil wizards is Lord Voldermort of the 'Harry Potter'series. Appeared facially as part-reptilian that might be from his dark magic. He is a half-blood turningagainst his Muggle heritage

and firmly seeks ambition to

be the greatest sorcerer than

Dumbledore who brought him to be his student and now became his worst enemy. Voldermort does all of the dirtier deeds and this one takes the cake in trying to kill Harry Potter ever since he was a baby. Almost everyone including his own Death Eaters are too scared to face this dark wizard except for Harry and Dumbledore. To be fair, he was the ultimate villain where no one would dare to speak his name. He appeared in just only seven of the eight films as he is but always the main antagonist.

#8. Bellatrix Lestrange (Harry Potter)

If you only have ever seen a
male villain, think again, we
have a femme foe whose name
is Bellatrix Lestrange and she

is far more worse than Lord

Voldermort. Not only she is

loyal to him and followed his

orders, she is also notorious for murdering her own cousin and Harry's godfather Sirius Black.

Evil and sadism may haveyet run in her veins as she is not like the other Death Eaters who were too sniveling and cowardly, she is ultimately mad and cruel.This is the only real female antagonist I choose apart from Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman and many before her.

Normally, I know that Adam Sandler has had a few disenchantments in his career and he is slowly losing his phase. His career started to spiral downwards which began with JACK AND JILL (click here). Though sources might say that the spiral had actually began in the 2000s. Every year, it seems he releases another film that people are anxious to see and then it once again either resort to bombing at the box office or becomes the subject of critical negativity. Fortunately, he brought us BLENDED and bringing back some much needed fun and smartly written humour. Starring aside the actress Drew Barrymore, the two have long collaborated in having three of their romantic comedies which include: THE WEDDING SINGER and 50 FIRST DATES. It seems with this movie that Sandler and Barrymore are yet to lose their winning streak of successful Rom Com (romantic comedy) accomplishments.

The movie had some truly wonderful moments, emotion, tenderness and humour. He hasn't established any of this warm-hearted feeling like this, not exactly like CLICK (click here) when the other film is more of a dramatic comedy and only brought tears in our eyes. There's even the display of great acting and unusual chemistry performed by Sandler and Barrymore. Even the supporting cast were a top-notch to BLENDED including the hilarious Terry Crews who appears in almost every scene he passes through.

You can't overlook BLENDED just because it didn't do so well on the box office biz. I'm giving this simplistic feature a seal of approval and I would recommend it for the people who have yet to see it.

Thursday, 3 July 2014

When it comes to features, they would be made by the animation better than live action and honestly, some people consider it to be a form of cartoon that kids could thoroughly enjoy but animation is actually a form of art that many might use it on movies and television that could attract to young and older audiences in either old fashioned hand-drawn or modern CGI. Here are the top set of the 10 animated films that I literally consider them as my favourites or the greatest in no matter what art-style it uses or which story it perfected. Not including the new Disney hit 'Frozen' which I've never watched or any Pixar feature in other spots, I'm definitely not featuring it or reviewing it.

the third. I believe TOY STORY 2 is the best of the three, I'm so into the opening scene, mainly because it has action and has the potential if Buzz Lightyear would be in his own film. This animation sequel works better than the original only the first time it received consent from the series creator.

KUNG FU PANDA 2 is an
interesting but still a silly chapter
to the first movie, the sequel has
highlighted a character-based
story and establishes a two-part
saga. Likeable and wise, it's still
over-the-top hilarious and delves
in to more character development
and adds any balance with the
darker aspects that does make it
like a better instalment. I raise
the vote for KUNG FU PANDA 2
as the best of the two animated
sequels and nothing about getting
the most acclaim from the audience.

This film successfully accomplished
a perfect blend of laughs and CGI
superhero action. The blockbuster
THE INCREDIBLES justifies the
orientation of the superhero genre
for the first time and calls itself
a movie with a family of heroes.
It seems risky for the animation
giant of Pixar and Disney to super-
start and collaborate on a original
super-hero masterpiece. I'm not
going to lie, it ended up as a sweet
success and is not like the other

previous Pixar bonuses. Bonus
points for Jason Lee in voicing as fan-boy turned-nemesis Syndrome. Might I say that Samuel L. Jackson also captures the essence of his portrayal of Frozone.

Looking for a better DreamWorks
film, one that doesn't need
references to other films or edgy
humour to create the laughs.
KUNG FU PANDA is awesome
and lets the studio better cement
itself as one of the all time great
studios specialising in animation
film. Containing with an original
sense of laughter and amazing
well-made fighting sequences.
I feel KUNG FU PANDA has
never been unique and simplistic

since The Lion King, it delivered

the fans a story which they had never seen. This feature made no attempt to replicate the work of its predecessor films by DreamWorks.

I don't care what some people
think about ATLANTIS: THE
LOST EMPIRE, it was an action-
packed animation of a Disney film
without any singing or explosions.
In fact, it has the feel of a Jules
Verne classic and an Indiana Jones
adventure and was brought to life
by tremendous visuals and Mike
Mignola's design artwork that
were put together to make
ATLANTIS an exciting and
mystifying look of a cartoon
adventure flick with a sense of
being a cult classic in its own right. It's favoured in opinions by others than critics who gave mixed views about the whole picture.

While it isn't a spoiled cash-in by
Warner Bros which is how it got
flopped, BATMAN: MASK
OF THE PHANTASM just only
follows the lines of the story and
the complexity and it's eagerly an
animated action-oriented feature
that doesn't need any comic relief
except for its main villain The Joker
who is funny but menacingly evil.
Better with the maturity and the
sad-filled moments which withholds
the basic structure of the comic
book character's mythology, the
movie MASK OF THE PHANTASM is suitably fast-paced and better than Burton's or Schumacher's Batman flicks that even aficionados of the caped-crusader could be seeing it at homes despite having all the acclaim it had.

Taking the studio DreamWorks
into soaring heights with glossy
animation and the outrageous
breathtaking view of 3D is
what HOW TO TRAIN YOUR
DRAGON is all about. For me
that I can say, TRAIN YOUR
DRAGON, this film conveys the
theme of establishing trust
between two unlikely companions.
Conveniently this is DreamWorks
greatest treasure, well-appraised
higher than 'Kung Fu Panda'.
I haven't forgotten that it pleases
the crowd with a lot of extraordinary moments.

WALL-E is one of the few
animated science-fiction movies
ever to succeed at the box
office, it is full of breath-taking
visual eye candy for the audience
and explores the romance between
the two main robots. Primarily, the
movie's first half is dialogue-free,

but it sends a message about the
environmental issues affecting
our planet when it is covered in
too much garbage. This is probably
the most sentimental movie of
which Pixar takes the cake as the
best of the computer-rendering
that the animation studio had done to date, definitely a mesmerising and unique piece of animation cinema which will have long lasting value.

Truly an ultimate masterpiece
for Disney in the 90's animation
renaissance and the one that I
literally grew up with is THE
LION KING (TLK). While still
partially based on Shakespeare's
Hamlet, it has a dash of all the
right elements. This includes a
beautiful epic scenery, talented
vocals, heartfelt emotion and
memorable soundtrack is what
gives its dominance. It would have
being the second nominee for an
Academy Award for Best
Picture and there isn't a single classical-animated feature from Disney or any other studio in nowadays to top TLK. It's one of the studio's better flicks (alongside 'Atlantis') also appealing to adults, this 2D piece of artistic perfection will be remembered for generations to come.

Well, what do think of my top 10 list, what are your favourites. I would love to hear your feedback and hear what you think are the best 10 animated features of all time.